It was a rare sight to see a rabbit foraging in the fir forest. Shi Mingyue and Lu Lingjing did not dare to get too close, fearing that they would scare away the cute little white rabbit, so they could only watch from a distance.
After the little white rabbit finished eating the grass on the ground, it half stood up and began to wash its face carefully with its furry front paws. Its expression was extremely adorable.
"I really want to have a little rabbit, but my grandfather has asthma, so we can't have furry pets at home." Lu Lingjing sighed with regret.
Shi Mingyue smiled and said, "Why not raise fish or turtles? They are pets without hair."
"No!" Lu Lingjing said in disgust, "It's soaking wet, and I can't hold it in my arms. Besides, I just like fluffy little animals."
Shi Mingyue was amused by her innocent and childish appearance at the moment, "Then there's nothing we can do."
The little rabbit in the distance washed its face and then jumped away. Lu Lingjing hadn't seen enough, so she quickly chased after it. Shi Mingyue and the maids and servants had no choice but to follow her.
After walking quickly for a while, the little rabbit disappeared into some burrow. Lu Lingjing couldn't find it and punched the tree in anger.
Shi Mingyue found it amusing that she still had the mind of a child. Just as she was about to speak to her, she heard an urgent cry from outside the cedar forest.
"You bunch of demons!" A monk ran wildly from the back door of Yongjin Temple, followed by four or five men in black.
What was going on? Shi Mingyue and his group were all focused. The next second, a man in black threw out a sharp knife, which went straight through the monk's abdomen. The monk immediately fell to the ground, blood all over the floor.
Seeing this scene, Hongyin, who had never seen the world before, screamed in fear. Shi Mingyue quickly covered her mouth, but it was too late. Those people discovered them and ran towards them with weapons in their hands.
Shi Mingyue forced herself to remain calm and tried her best to appear less vulnerable in front of these people.
When the five men in black came closer, they found that they were all weak women, but they were dressed elegantly, so they must be ladies from wealthy families. For a moment, they didn't know whether they should take action.
Then a few more people came, and the five men in black automatically made way. Yuan Daixu walked over slowly, and the moment he saw Shi Mingyue, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes: "Why is Princess Ling here?"
Shi Mingyue said loudly, "We just came to the temple to burn incense and worship Buddha, and then walked in this fragrant cedar forest. As for the monk just now, did he commit any crime?"
Yuan Daixu smiled and said, "Yes, he committed a crime, stole the temple's treasure, and then attempted to escape. But did the princess come here only with this young lady?"
Shi Mingyue was unsure. She had just deliberately suggested that the monk might have committed some crime, in reality, to show Yuan Daixu that she wouldn't reveal the matter. And what was Yuan Daixu's intention in asking her this question now? This place was indeed deserted. Aside from her, Lingjing, Hongyin, and a male servant, the rest were Yuan Daixu's men. It was highly likely that he would harm them.
Just as she was hesitant, wondering whether she should lie to Yuan Daixu, a voice came from a distance: "Mingyue, why are you here?"
Everyone looked over and saw that it was actually Fu Yueli and his cousin. Yuan Daixu thought they had come together and said, "Greetings, Your Highness."
Fu Yueli walked over, stood in front of Shi Mingyue, and said, "What happened here?"
Yuan Daixu apologized, "I was handling a case in the temple. A monk stole the temple's most precious treasure and tried to escape, but was accidentally killed by my men. This frightened the princess, so it was my fault."
Fu Yueli glanced at the dead body lying on the ground and said, "If that's the case, then you can continue to deal with it." Then he took Shi Mingyue's hand and said softly, "Let's go back. Don't run so far next time."
After they walked away, Yuan Daixu gave a wink and someone immediately carried the corpse back to the temple.
It wasn't until they got on the carriage that Lu Lingjing's tense emotions finally broke down. She grabbed Lu Lingyan's arm and said, almost crying, "They lied! When that monk ran out just now, he yelled 'you bunch of demons!' And it wasn't an accidental killing; they were clearly trying to kill him!"
The smile that Lu Lingyan always had on his face had long since disappeared, and he sternly stopped Lu Lingjing: "Don't mention this matter again."
Lu Lingjing noticed her brother's serious expression, and Fu Yueli and Shi Mingyue also looked solemn, so she kept quiet. Lu Lingyan saw that she was really scared, so he patted her shoulder and comforted her: "Don't think about it, it's all over."
Shi Mingyue has not yet calmed down her emotions. If Fu Yueli had not appeared just now, she would really suspect that Yuan Daixu would commit murder to silence the witness.
"Why did you and Ling Yan suddenly appear?" she asked.
Fu Yueli replied apologetically, "It was my fault for forgetting to ask you and Lingjing where you were going. Actually, we came to Yongjin Temple today to inquire about it. Just as we were about to go in, we saw the coachman from the mansion drinking tea at a stall outside the temple. Upon asking, we learned that you and Lingjing had gone to Xiangshan Forest, so we immediately rushed over."
Shi Mingyue thought that it seemed that something did happen to Yuan Daixu in Yongjin Temple. Now that Lu Lingjing was frightened, she couldn't ask in detail. She could only wait until she got back to ask about the situation in detail.
In Prince Xiang's Mansion, a small snake was twisting its body in pain in a white transparent bottle, while two people stood beside the bottle and watched the scene quietly.
Xu Ziling poured some more realgar powder into the bottle, and the snake began to wriggle even more violently, desperately trying to escape. However, the bottle had been corked. After a while, the snake stopped struggling and looked dead.
With the doors and windows wide open, the room was bright and bright, allowing the snake's complete reaction to be seen in every detail. The snake wasn't dead yet, merely unconscious, as its body still held a subtle hint of life.
"The realgar powder I developed can make small snakes faint for at least a quarter of an hour. I haven't tried it on big snakes, so I don't know how long it will last." Xu Ziling said, staring at the small snake in the bottle.
Fu Baiheng said, "If you didn't want to capture those two snakes alive, they would still be alive if you just added realgar and wine."
Xu Ziling said, "Don't you think it's amazing? Those two snakes could live underground for a hundred years. I'm afraid they're no longer snakes, but earth dragons. Such rare creatures have great research value and may contribute to the development of immortality."
"I hope so. However, those two snakes have been going crazy underground lately. They only calm down for a while if you throw four people down there every day. They are extremely picky eaters and prefer living people over dead ones."
Xu Ziling said, "This kind of beast was probably fed living things since childhood, so it's picky about dead things. But you can try realgar powder tonight."
The two were discussing when suddenly a woman's voice came from outside the door: "Your Highness, are you in there?"
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